Hilton HHonors - Why does online check in NEVER WORK?

have tried on my last 3 reservations... no dice:

"We're sorry, we are unable to complete your eCheck-in at this time. However, your reservation is confirmed. Please stop by the Front Desk upon arrival to pick up your key packet. We look forward to seeing you. "



what's the point?

There is little to no point to eCheck in. Even when it does work online, it's iffy whether they actually put you in the room you checked into. I checked into a top floor room at a Hampton in Traverse City, Michigan, and when I arrived, I was in a lower floor room. The FDC said he was "allowed" to put me in another room, as long as it was the same room type. Incidentally, my online preferences indicate high floor as well.

The other issue with this feature is that you can check into a room that isn't ready yet. Then when you physically arrive, they won't let you into the room because it isn't ready yet. I've had this happen, and then the FDC wouldn't put me into another room, because she couldn't change my room once I eChecked in. The kicker is, this was the same Hampton at which the other FDC said he could move me after eCheck in. So apparently the rules depend upon what is convenient for hotel personnel.

OLCI routinely works for me. I find room moves to be rare once OLCI is completed.

I use it more so to view the room that the hotel has pre-assigned to me so that if I don't like it I can pre-emptively call and get moved.

When one checks in early online, they lose the ability to cancel by the original deadline. A lot of hotels allow cancellations up to 6 p.m. on the day of arrival. If I check in early that day on line and something happens to disrupt my plans, I am already checked in and can not cancel.

Bottom line is that the on line check in feature is a huge benefit to the hotel and usually a minor benefit to the traveler.

Insanity:

doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results

OLCI routinely works for me. I find room moves to be rare once OLCI is completed.

I use it more so to view the room that the hotel has pre-assigned to me so that if I don't like it I can per-emptively call and get moved.

Has worked well for me at the Homewood. Was able to select a top floor and non-adjoining room. I like the feature.

what's the point?

On the rare occasions it has worked for me, it has sometimes enabled me to lock in a particular upgraded room. But as I'm mostly travelling by myself, upgrades aren't so valuable.
My main complaint is that even after an OLCI, they still want to swipe my credit card and collect a signature. These are the time-consuming bits that, IMHO, OLCI should mean are not required. They already know and have authority on my card from the res and the OLCI, so why ask for it again?

Bottom line is that the on line check in feature is a huge benefit to the hotel and usually a minor benefit to the traveler.

Agreed. I have sworn off OLCI.

Of the last 8 stays, it has only worked 2 times. It has never worked on stays longer than one night. Strange. I would either fix the option or don't offer it. Otherwise, people will get frustrated.

Agreed. I have sworn off OLCI.

+1

You still have to get a key and that never takes more than a minute or two and at large facilities that I haven't been to before, I have to ask questions like where are the elevators, what time do you serve breakfast etc etc.

Bob H

I've done four this week. They all worked. And on three, I got to select my room, though only one had a map - the other two hotels I knew from previous stays, so it was still of some benefit to have some selection ability. OLCI also let me note that one of my check-ins would be late; perhaps this would someday help me from getting walked, but who knows?

...They already know and have authority on my card from the res and the OLCI, so why ask for it again?

By recording the swipe of your card, it makes it much more difficult for a charge-back if the card holder says they never authorized the charge. It's an automatic reaction to having a customer standing before them. Just like those that insist in giving their Hilton card when checking in. If they have the rez, then they most likely already have the HH#.

I've heard all the different stories about OLCI from we can't do anything to the rez once done to we don't use it and not bound by what's been done. To me it's ineffective and should be pulled altogether.

My main complaint is that even after an OLCI, they still want to swipe my credit card and collect a signature. These are the time-consuming bits that, IMHO, OLCI should mean are not required. They already know and have authority on my card from the res and the OLCI, so why ask for it again?

Yea that kind've defeats the purpose, the only time I've usedit is at the Homewood and it that example, they handed me the keys. No card swipe.

There is little to no point to eCheck in. Even when it does work online, it's iffy whether they actually put you in the room you checked into. I checked into a top floor room at a Hampton in Traverse City, Michigan, and when I arrived, I was in a lower floor room. The FDC said he was "allowed" to put me in another room, as long as it was the same room type. Incidentally, my online preferences indicate high floor as well.

Hmmm? What sense is then in the online check-in?

Insanity:

doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results

:rolleyes:

This saying is too glib and simplistic.

In point of fact, if the system changes in some way, you CAN get different results even if you yourself are seemingly "doing the same thing."

But of course you know that already. ;)

I have sometimes used OLCI with Hilton and have generally had GOOD luck with it. In particular, I wanted to be able to pick a good room (better rather than worse view, higher floor rather than lower, etc.), and was able to do so. So, I have had no real problems with it, and have actually benefited from using it. One thing I noticed is that if I started the OLCI process and it didn't offer me rooms that I especially wanted, I could try it again later and get a different (and sometimes better) choice of rooms.

This. I rarely have any trouble and usually have the room e-checked into. And I have had some success with Kathy's method.

OLCI routinely works for me. I find room moves to be rare once OLCI is completed.

I use it more so to view the room that the hotel has pre-assigned to me so that if I don't like it I can per-emptively call and get moved.

My echeckin has been down as well for the last couple of stays. I actually like this feature as I can see what rooms are offered and never really have a problem with it.

I've done four this week. They all worked. And on three, I got to select my room, though only one had a map - the other two hotels I knew from previous stays, so it was still of some benefit to have some selection ability.

If you don't know the property from prior experience and there's no map, how do you know how to select a good room? It's blind man's buff. More or less pointless.

If you don't know the property from prior experience and there's no map, how do you know how to select a good room? It's blind man's buff. More or less pointless.

At minimum, you can select a high or low floor. And you can pick a bed type (king, two queen) and accessible/not. I usually figure the X00 and X01 rooms are at the end of the hall (in an "I" shaped hotel.) But yes, without a map/fore-knowledge, pretty tough.

have tried on my last 3 reservations... no dice:

"We're sorry, we are unable to complete your eCheck-in at this time. However, your reservation is confirmed. Please stop by the Front Desk upon arrival to pick up your key packet. We look forward to seeing you. "

what's the point?
I also occasionally get that message. I assume it's because hilton.com can't communicate with the property's reservation system at that time. But I don't get it consistently. Of all the frustrating problems with hilton.com, OLCI issues are pretty far down the list.

If you don't know the property from prior experience and there's no map, how do you know how to select a good room? It's blind man's buff. More or less pointless.
I just call the front desk while I have the list of rooms in front of me. I get the info I need, and they will usually pre-assign me the room right then.

In any case, OLCI is also a good way to snag an upgrade if offered.

Insanity:

doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results

No but really, next time it'll be different.

If you don't know the property from prior experience and there's no map, how do you know how to select a good room? It's blind man's buff. More or less pointless.

Well, you might have read some room pointers on websites that you might have heard of, like, oh, say, TripAdvisor, or, um, FlyerTalk....and so on.... :p

And sometimes, believe it or not, there actually is a room map displayed!


(BTW, do you really mean "blind man's buff?" :eek:)

I just call the front desk while I have the list of rooms in front of me. I get the info I need, and they will usually pre-assign me the room right then.


+1 to this ... I read off the list, ask if any offered might be better than the other and they usually give me an honest opinion.

YMMV, but, I've often scored upgrades this way without even asking specifically for an upgrade ... I imagine this is because a human is pulling up the reservation, seeing it's an elite member and looking at room availability - hopefully before real pre-assignments have been done.

I gave up on OLCI a long time ago.

Thankfully I stay at the same Hampton Inn 12 days a month and the manager there made it a point to ensure that I get the same room every time after I indicated that I really liked a particular room.

Well, you might have read some room pointers on websites that you might have heard of, like, oh, say, TripAdvisor, or, um, FlyerTalk....and so on.... :p

And sometimes, believe it or not, there actually is a room map displayed!

Not very often in my experience.

(BTW, do you really mean "blind man's buff?" :eek:)

Yes, dearest would-be language cop. Either "bluff" or "buff" is accepted.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blind_man's_buff

http://www.thefreedictionary.com/Blindman's+buff

I have a reservation at the Embassy Suites Dulles Airport for this evening. I had no luck with OLCI yesterday (kept getting the "unable to complete your eCheck-in at this time" message that others have noted). However, this morning, OLCI was working. Only one room choice was displayed (a "king basic"), while noting that my "upgrade was confirmed". I'm not quite sure what's upgraded about this, but I guess that I'll find out this evening.

What is with the exorbitant consent to charges detailed in the terms and conditions? Mine states that i consent to the reservation of credit On my credit card Of 13712 USD For non room charges that may occur.

Thanks Kathy! I appreciate this info. I did not know that the room numbers/arrangements change over time, but that makes sense.


:rolleyes:

This saying is too glib and simplistic.

In point of fact, if the system changes in some way, you CAN get different results even if you yourself are seemingly "doing the same thing."

But of course you know that already. ;)

I have sometimes used OLCI with Hilton and have generally had GOOD luck with it. In particular, I wanted to be able to pick a good room (better rather than worse view, higher floor rather than lower, etc.), and was able to do so. So, I have had no real problems with it, and have actually benefited from using it. One thing I noticed is that if I started the OLCI process and it didn't offer me rooms that I especially wanted, I could try it again later and get a different (and sometimes better) choice of rooms.

Not very often in my experience.

Homewood Suites seems best at posting room maps in my experience.

What is with the exorbitant consent to charges detailed in the terms and conditions? Mine states that i consent to the reservation of credit On my credit card Of 13712 USD For non room charges that may occur.

It's not a consent to charge, but a consent to hold... Just about any credit card transaction will trigger something when they first swipe the card and the final billing has not occurred. Some places it is as little as $1.00 and some hotels do room rate plus $100 or more. It may show as a pending charge on your account and should go away when they do final billing or anywhere up to a week later if they don't sync up. Unfortunately it might eat some of your credit line until cleared.

I use it more so to view the room that the hotel has pre-assigned to me so that if I don't like it I can pre-emptively call and get moved.

+1 This is exactly how I generally use it, and if an upgrade is offered I'll go ahead and snag it, too.

I generally won't actually "check-in" unless I'm already in the air to, or better yet on the ground at, my destination city. Usually I'm going from the airport to the office/meetings before actually getting to the hotel later that night, so I feel like in the upgrade situations it maybe helps secure it before other people show up.

Although today, coming into my most frequent property, the FDA recognized me when I walked in the door and had a nice corner room on the top floor waiting. Maybe I'm falling into Ravenboy2001's situation...

Is the OLCI working for anyone? I had it fail twice in the last week at Hampton Inns that I had not previously visited, so I chalked it up to them not being hooked in. Now I am trying to check into a Hilton that I visit at least 2-3 times per month, and that I always use OLCI for, and I am getting the "We're sorry, we are unable to complete your eCheck-In..." message.

Is the OLCI working for anyone? I had it fail twice in the last week at Hampton Inns that I had not previously visited, so I chalked it up to them not being hooked in. Now I am trying to check into a Hilton that I visit at least 2-3 times per month, and that I always use OLCI for, and I am getting the "We're sorry, we are unable to complete your eCheck-In..." message.

I used it at a DT yesterday to check rooms, but didn't actually check in with it. But it did at least show me a room list as of around noon yesterday.

It's not a consent to charge, but a consent to hold... Just about any credit card transaction will trigger something when they first swipe the card and the final billing has not occurred. Some places it is as little as $1.00 and some hotels do room rate plus $100 or more. It may show as a pending charge on your account and should go away when they do final billing or anywhere up to a week later if they don't sync up. Unfortunately it might eat some of your credit line until cleared.

Thank you for the explanation. I just thought that usd13k was exorbitant for a one night hold on a usd159 room. It did not encourage me to use the online check in offered to me. Would not think that they put that type of hold when I personally check in.

Thank you for the explanation. I just thought that usd13k was exorbitant for a one night hold on a usd159 room. It did not encourage me to use the online check in offered to me. Would not think that they put that type of hold when I personally check in.

I thought you just forgot the decimal, but maybe they did. They are just trying to protect themselves by making sure the card is valid and there is adequate credit to cover the charges. Yes, $13K would be excessive. I'd let the hotel know.

There's been a news article about people using one card to reserve a room at Disney World and then changing cards when they check in. By the time they leave the cards are no longer valid and they leave without paying. They have done this several years in a row and took Disney some time to catch them! But they finally did.

Two reservations to check in for, OLCI not working for either, just the "collect your key card" message.
Have been in touch with Hilton technical who told me to refresh the page. Hmm.

It would be good if this could be sorted out, as I find it quite a useful feature.